Long-awaited tram depot to be visitor attraction

Published on Thursday 5 August 2010 11:01

TRAM bosses hope to turn a long-awaited depot into a visitor attraction once it is up and running, it has emerged.

The Gogar depot is expected to be finished later this year after being plagued by a series of delays.

Now it has emerged that tram firm TIE hopes to offer guided tours of the facility, as well as staging an exhibition charting the history of trams in Edinburgh. It comes after more than 60,000 people visited the tram in Princes Street, with the vehicle set to move to Gogar in the autumn.

Tram bosses said they had been inspired to come up with an exhibition following the level of interest shown in the Princes Street tram.

Mandy Haeburn-Little, director of customer services and communications for the trams, said: "The tram vehicle has proved very successful, not only as a visitor attraction, but also as a way of introducing a range of different groups to what trams will look and feel like.

"Because of the level of interest, Edinburgh Trams has begun to pull together material for an exhibition into the history of trams in Edinburgh. This may be shown on the tram itself and could show the original routes, display copies of some of the original photography and guidebooks as well as looking ahead to the new trams, comparing the old with the new."

But critics of the project said the tram firm had got its priorities wrong.

John Carson, a former maintenance director at Network Rail and a long-standing opponent of the project, said: "Why don't TIE concentrate on getting it finished? The tram project is already an exhibition, and this sort of thing is typical of them - they would rather do anything other than manage the project.

"If they open up the depot to the public it will be a goldfish bowl of their own incompetence."

SNP Lothians MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville added: "I think the only tram tour people in Edinburgh might want is of a moving tram from Leith to the airport.

"I would rather get on a tram that was going somewhere than see more money spent on turning a tram depot into a visitor attraction, particularly when the tram works make getting to Gogar a struggle itself.

"TIE should stick to the job they have been given and concentrate on building the tram line."

Earlier this year bosses at TIE revealed they were planning an exhibition and an accompanying book which will chronicle work on the project from its inception to the current day.

Staff working for the tram company have spent the last few months photographing and gathering stories from construction workers on the ground for the showcase..